Copyright cloud over Black Widow portrait

A controversial artist's portrait of a convicted murderer could be destroyed if allegations of copyright infringement are pursued through the courts.

Wanganui artist Mark Rayner has apologised for upsetting the family of murder victim Phil Nisbet after his depiction of "Black Widow" Helen Milner was entered in a prestigious national art award.

Questions have arisen over whether the image was copied from a photograph taken during Milner's trial.

Intellectual property litigation expert Kim McLeod, a partner at Auckland firm AJ Park Law, said: "If he has copied the photo that the New Zealand Herald owns the copyright to, he will have infringed that copyright."

The usual remedies for such an infringement, he said, included the copyright owner being able to apply for an injunction to stop him continuing to use the copy, ask for it to be destroyed, or seek damages.

Herald editor-in chief Tim Murphy said he expected artists using Herald copyrighted work to ask for permission and to consult on what they intend to use our work for.

"This didn't occur in this instance," he said. "The photographer who captures an image such as this is a professional who deserves recognition that should not be converted by an artist without reference to us."

Last night Rayner said the work was a reinterpretation of a well-circulated media image.

"[It] has been changed to such a degree that it makes it a completely new artwork in its own right. The original source material has been manipulated, colour-changed and cropped and then reinterpreted as a large latch-hook rug," he said.

He was happy to discuss the matter with the Herald and Wallace Trust and do whatever was necessary.